Delicious
by CottonCoated
Summary: After a tough battle with Sayama, Nishiura's coach realizes that there needs to be more of a "battery" happening between the Ace and the first catcher. She can't let anymore careless accidents happen for the rest of the tournaments. What happens when Momoe forces Abe and Mihashi to partner up with almost everything they do?
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! This is my first fanfiction story haha ~ with one of my favourite parings: Abe/Mihashi from Oofuri. _

_Please do correct my grammar as I am trying to improve my english writing skills. I apologize if I make any of the characters at all, OOC. _

_I don't own Oofuri nor any of its characters! Enjoy!_

_SPOILER ALERT: The start of the story takes place after Nishiura lost against Sayama. Abe struggles to recover from his leg injury while the rest of the Nishiura team are practicing for the Fall Tournaments. _

* * *

Trying to not cry was a challenge. Abe blinked a couple of times, batting the droplets away. Rubbing his eyes was not an option since it would only formulate more tears. A ginger-blonde boy stood quietly behind the teary teenager, who occasionally peeked at the commotion in front of him.

It was fairly quiet with only sounds coming from the sniffles of Abe's reddened nose, and an inconsistent clacking of metal against wood. After a few more clacks, Abe abruptly turns around, which startles the boy behind him.

"Mihashi, what do you think?" Abe struggled to keep his eyes open, more tears trickling onto his cheeks.

Mihashi, still recovering from Abe's sudden turn, looked around confused. He twiddled with his fingers, unable to look at the catcher in the eye. It felt odd and strange to the pitcher that he would be witnessing something as tough-minded as Abe, to be crying…again. The first time Mihashi saw Abe cry was when they lost the match against Sayama, but he was bawling his face that time too.

"What-do-you-think?" Abe asked in between teeth, his patience starting to dry away.

'I need to answer him quickly!' Mihashi thought. Saying things in his head was way easier than trying to actually say it out loud. He swallowed a lump in his throat, tilted his head down and looked up at the catcher nervously.

"Mi-ha-shi! Tell me the truth!" Abe wanted to smack the kid so badly. Was it that hard to spit it out? 'Just say it already' he grumbled inside. The tears streaking his face were not making it any better; his patience candle was burning out very quickly.

The ginger opened his mouth but closed it again. He didn't want to anger Abe any longer, so he ended up stuttering and making squeaky noises instead.

"MIHASHI!"

Abe growled at the curled up ball, shivering on the ground, which was a result of his outburst. He grabbed the edge of Mihashi's collar and pulled him up close to his face.

"A-a-abe!" Mihashi whimpered in fear.

"JUST-," Abe sighed and took a moment to calm his fire, "tell me honestly… I need to know so that I can improve, alright?"

Mihashi nodded quickly, his eyes staring back at the puffy-eyed Abe, then to Abe's free hand. Abe let go of the collar and waited again for an answer.

"…it's pretty bad, right?" Abe sighed after a while, then taking a towel from the table to wipe his teary face.

Mihashi nervously shook his head. The black-haired boy slammed his fist on the counter, startling the other once again.

"Look! It looks like crap, okay?! The pieces look like monkey butts!" Abe pointed at the result of his onion cutting.

Mihashi tried to contain his laugh at Abe's depiction of his own cutting skills.

"You little! You think this is funny, huh?!" Abe growled.

Mihashi shook his head very quickly, still covering his mouth to hide his wiggling lips of laughter. Abe looked back at the onion bits and thought 'they do really look like little butts actually' and a small smile almost crept onto his lips. That is until he realized that Mihashi was choking from his own laughter and was currently coughing on the floor.

"You stupid-" Abe hopped on his good leg towards the struggling boy. He gave Mihashi a good patting until the coughs subsided. "Be more careful, you." Abe looked at the catcher with a mix of annoyance and worry.

"I-I'll teach you!"

Abe blinked, confused, "What?"

Mihashi stood up and helped Abe onto his feet.

"I'll teach you how to c-cut onions. And cook!" Mihashi blurted, surprising Abe a little.

'He's talking!' Abe thought. He looked over at the kitchen counter where a small clock was sitting, "Alright, but I don't really have much time today for me to learn. We have two hours before we need to have something served for the team." Abe looked over at the cheery-looking Mihashi, "Why don't I wash all the vegetables while you do the cooking for now?"

"Okay!" Mihashi answered immediately.

Things went on smoothly for the rest of the morning as the Battery busied themselves with the making of a healthy, nutritious, and balanced breakfast for the Nishiura team.

Abe would supervise whenever Mihashi used the knife for cutting while Mihashi directed Abe during the process of the cooking. Who knew that they could finally cook something together without the help of Shinooka.

When the rest of the team flooded in to the dinning tables filled with the works of the Battery, Abe thought that partnering up with Mihashi for cooking meals wasn't going to be that bad after all. There were some challenges with communication, but as long as Abe was able to keep his temper under control, things would go the way they should be.

The food was rewarding, but most of all, it was rewarding to Mihashi to be able to spend more time with his catcher.

More meals to come with a functioning Battery…

* * *

_Can't wait to write more. My writing isn't the best, which is why I hope to improve as much as I can with this!_

_Thanks for reading! Feedback is welcomed!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Second chapter here we go! Things are starting to get funny? _

_I don't know ~ we'll see. _

_Again, I don't own any of the Oofuri characters. _

_Correction/criticism accepted! Enjoy! _

* * *

To text or not to text?

Mihashi fumbled with his flip phone, turning it in his hands, pondering.

Abe was late.

It has been two minutes since Mihashi stood in the kitchen, alone, which was unusual for Abe. He knew Abe disliked being late, but why was the situation like this now?

What should he do? Text him? Call him? Go to his house, maybe? Mihashi clutched onto his phone as if deciding between life and death.

It would be disappointing for the rest of the team if dinner were not served. Especially after that surprisingly successful breakfast the Battery mustered out, trust was already a get go for the duo. Maybe the team would disallow Mihashi to be the Ace after this failure. What if Abe did not want to be his catcher anymore, which was why he didn't show up?

Mihashi took deep breaths and paced around the kitchen once again. Maybe he should just start cooking and Abe perhaps would show up later? 'NO!' He thought. They were partners; they were supposed to do things together on their coach's orders.

Mihashi yelped when he felt his phone buzz- it was Abe. He answered it in a flash,

"A-Abe-kun!" Mihashi's held his breath, bracing himself for an 'Abe Lecture'.

"Mihashi… I- I'm downstairs, could you help me up a bit? My brother forgot to bring my clutches during the bike ride and left already." Abe was breathing loudly on the other end.

"Y-yes! Coming!" Mihashi rushed downstairs, feeling both excited and relieved.

* * *

"You have the water boiling already?" Abe questioned after settling down on a chair in the kitchen.

Mihashi shook his head.

"WHAT?!" Abe growled, causing Mihashi to slam into a wall in fear, "Why didn't you get the water boiling once you got here?!"

Tears started welling up in the pitcher's eyes as he ran to take the pot out under the sink. Abe sighed and realized what he has just done. His tone of voice was too loud… again.

"Hey, Mihashi?"

Too preoccupied with boiling the water, it took three calls before Mihashi finally jumped at Abe's words. Mihashi looked anywhere but at Abe's forceful gaze while he stood rigid in front of him.

Abe wanted to smack himself in the head. They were doing so well this morning and now they were stuck in this awkward communication thing again.

"Look… if this is too hard for you, I can always ask Shinooka to replace me an-" Abe was cut off by Mihashi's fidgety body movements. Why were pitchers so weird?

"Battery!" Mihashi yelped.

Abe blinked in confusion.

"W-we're a Battery! B-but Momoe said we should do more things together to be a b-better Battery. So I want to cook with Abe-kun only!" Mihashi closed his eyes out of a nervous habit.

Abe stared at his partner, bewildered for a moment but then brought his hand up to his chin in deep thought.

"I-I'm sorry!" Mihashi continued and bowed his head, "I-I'm sorry for not cooking first, but I want to do everything with Abe-kun! And I should have t-texted you to see if you were okay earlier."

Abe scratched his head, not knowing what to do, "U-umh… I… I'm sorry too, Mihashi. For being late."

Mihashi straightened up and blurted, "N-no! It was not your fault! M-my fault!"

"We both are at fault I guess." Abe sighed.

The catcher reached forward from his seat and grasped the pitcher's hand. It was fairly cold.

"Alright! Let's become a stronger Battery from now on!" Abe clutched the cold hand in his.

A strong blush crept onto Mihashi's cheek. Abe's hands were warm, which calmed him down quickly.

"Y-yes!" Mihashi chimed.

* * *

The night flew by with the Battery receiving multiple praises from the rest of the Nishiura team members. Tajima probably having up to five refills. Hanai had to stop the little energetic boy when he went up to get his sixth bowl of rice.

Momoe asked Abe's mother to allow him to sleep with the rest of the team, since he had to get up early to cook breakfast with Mihashi. It also relieved Abe from having to bike all the way to the camp with his clutches strapped behind.

Before the first years knew it, it was time for bed. Mihashi rolled over in his futon, away from the snoring Tajima to come face to face with a familiar dark-haired boy.

Abe wasn't sleeping yet either. He glanced beside him to encounter Mihashi eyeing him innocently. The catcher carefully turned his body to face his pitcher, which startled Mihashi a little.

"Hey- " Mihashi heard Abe's whispering.

It was dark, but not dark enough that the ginger-blonde couldn't make out two dark eyes peering back at him.

"Abe-kun…?" Mihashi responded quietly.

"Great work today."

Mihashi jolted slightly in his futon. He got praised! Abe praised him!

Abe smiled a little when he saw Mihashi's reaction.

"Let's work even harder tomorrow, Abe-kun!" Mihashi muttered. The corners of his mouth rose up into a rare smile.

Abe blushed at the sight. It was the second time he saw such an honest smile coming from Mihashi. He was taken aback from the time Mihashi flashed him one at his house, shortly after their lost against Sayama… but this one seemed warmer.

"G-goodnight." Abe whispered, but the other was already fast asleep. 'He's so weird, but interesting at the same time' he thought as he slowly seeped into darkness as well.

The next day came with even more surprises with Abe waking up on one of the strangest dreams he has ever encountered.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you guys for the feedback on my writing! It makes me really happy when I'm being praised for my English hahaha. _

_This chapter is kinda uncomfortable I think? Well... you'll see! Enjoy ~ _

_I don't own any Oofuri characters. Spoilers alert! I've read some of the manga, so yeah, spoilers._

* * *

Sweat was rolling down his brow. His heart was beating at an alarming rate.

Abe backed away quickly from his futon where a dark figure emerged. He couldn't make out who or what it was in the dim-lited dormitory, but he was definitely afraid. His eye searched for where Mihashi's futon was supposed to be, but it was gone. All the other team member's futons were nowhere to be seen.

What was going on? Abe wanted to escape, but his injured leg felt oddly heavier than normal. He dragged his leg after him towards any escape route, but the creature was already quickly closing on him. Abe knew he had nowhere to run when his back hit the corner of the room. He should probably yell for help, but no sound came out of his mouth. He shut his eyes, hoping that the creature would go away, but then he felt a hand grasp his shaking ones. Abe peeked up from his curled up position on the floor, the creature's face coming into view. It was a tall guy with dark hair. He wore a sinister smirk on his face and a bat in one of his hands.

'Haruna...' Abe recognized him. He watched as 'Haruna' positioned himself as if he were ready to bat a fastball. Abe realized that he was in a dangerous position; Haruna was aiming at him.

Haruna swung the bat while Abe watched his life flash before his eye. A pair of arms shot out from the wall behind Abe, and pulled him through the concrete before the bat made contact with anything.

* * *

Abe felt himself sink into a pile of clouds, then landing on a fancy, western style bed. A young boy appeared to be waiting for Abe's appearance because he sat a little behind the spot where Abe fell. Abe sat up from his soft landing and jolted when his eyes met with a pair of hazel ones. The young boy positioned himself in front of the catcher and smiled brightly with his eyes closed.

"Mi-Mihashi?" Abe could not believe what he was seeing. What was Mihashi doing here and what was he-

This time, it was not the smiling that threw Abe off, but the choice of wardrobe the pitcher picked out: A short dress with frills lining the bottom. Under his neck was a fancy, lacey bow that rested gently against his exposed collarbone. He also rocked a princess- like top with bell-like short sleeves. On his hands, he had short lacey gloves and his feet, some white, fancy, loli-style heels. Not to mention, white thigh highs with little bows and baseball bells on the top.

Abe was lost for words while Mihashi cocked his head, blinking those stupid, clueless eyes of his. Mihashi mouthed something along the lines of "Abe-kun", but no sound came out. At this point, Abe knew he was dreaming… he must be, he had to be. No way he would fall through a wall and no way Mihashi would be wear-

Abe froze in his sitting position as Mihashi began crawling up to his lap. He felt his heart beating against his chest and a blush landing onto his cheeks. Again, Mihashi opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Abe's eyes landed on the other's lips as they began getting closer and closer to his own. What in the world was going on? The catcher wanted to move, but at the same time, he felt drawn to the other boy. Finally, the gap between them vanished and Abe felt something cold on his own lips. Mihashi's lips felt solid and cold? Solid and cold…. Wait, what?

Abe's eyes shot open, coming into view with a brown wooden floor. He immediately wiped his lips. Great. He was kissing the floor, how embarrassing was that? Lifting his head to scan the room, the whole team seemed to be still deep into their slumber; good, nobody saw what he did. Abe could see the sun rising at the distance, outside their window—which meant that there was still a bit of time before Mihashi and him had to get up. Mihashi…

Turning his head to his right, Abe exhaled when he saw a puff of messy blonde-ginger hair peek out from under the sheets. Mihashi was there, not on him, not wearing weird things, and not kiss- Abe shook his head. 'What the heck was that dream anyways? Why of all things…'

The catcher laid back down on his back. He didn't think he could go back to sleep with a dream smacking him in the face like that. Haruna of all people was in it too. Haruna trying to kill him and Mihashi crossdressing. What are the odds of that?

Abe decided that he would start getting ready to cook breakfast instead of getting a few minutes of extra sleep. He didn't want to risk another crazy dream. Managing the best without his clutches, Abe wobbled out the dormitory and into the large restroom to wash out whatever he just witnessed the whole night.

It was going to be a difficult morning. Especially when it was just going to be him and Mihashi managing breakfast duty. Solos.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews. I'm glad you guys like the story so far. _

_Hope you like this one too~ _

_I don't own any of the Oofuri characters. _

* * *

The morning went on surprisingly good for Abe. Although the image of Mihashi cross-dressing wasn't going to go away anytime soon, Abe was still able to hold up his composure around his partner. It must've been the meditation training he went through during the practices earlier in the summer that helped his mind focus on what he was supposed to do.

Breakfast was served and another day flew by with Abe struggling to eat as much as he can to recover while Mihashi practiced pitching with Tajima. This was good, with time, Abe would be able to forget about that bizarre dream and create a stronger battery with Mihashi. Honestly, Abe would prefer not to have anything that involved partnering up with the fidgety pitcher; their communication and bond with each other was still up in the air. However, this was coach's orders. Going against Momoe could lead to… nevermind, Abe didn't want to think of the way Momoe smashed fruits with her bare hands.

After chowing down a bento or two, Abe sat back in his chair at the dining table. He scanned the empty kitchen and could somehow imagine Mihashi calmly cooking at the counter. Interesting… of all times, Mihashi seemed to be most relaxed when he was cooking; Abe stashed this information into the Mihashi cabinet in his mind.

It made sense that Mihashi would be such a great cook due this his parents being absent from home most of the time. It was unimaginable how this fidgety, scrawny boy would be capable of fending for himself during all the years that his parents weren't able to be there to help. Made sense that Mihashi was bullied back then… Abe broke his train of thoughts when something hit one of the kitchen's windows with a loud smack.

It was a orange-yellow bird. Abe wobbled on his clutches to the window where the bird laid and had swirly eyes from the impact. Abe thought it was dead until it jumped up looking startled. A human was watching him. The bird looked around nervously, fidgeting and shaking as Abe continued to watch him in amusement. 'You know, you can just fly away if you're so scared…' Abe thought. Instead, the bird chirped a little something and quickly flew to a tree branch. It peeked from behind a bunch of leaves at Abe, but when it saw that Abe was still looking at him, it squeaked and hid again.

What a bizarre bird, Abe thought. It reminded him a little of Mihashi; how he would hide a distance away when he was scared, but would still peek at what he was afraid of. Abe smirked, yeah, that seems about spot on.

The sun was high in the sky, which marked the time for the Nishiura team to take an afternoon break. Abe was still in the kitchen by himself, but decided that maybe he'll go downstairs to greet the members coming back from the field.

Before Abe could make his down, Mihashi suddenly appeared at the stairway entrance, a little out of breath from running there. He looked muddy and sweaty from practice. As usual, the pitcher was fidgeting—probably playing possible scenarios in his head.

"Mihashi! You're done practice?" Abe mustered with a little hint of surprise. Did Mihashi need something that he'd run up here?

Mihashi took a few more breaths before his lungs calmed down. He shyly looked up at Abe with shimmery eyes. There were tears in his eyes, which were probably from the heat and running. Abe gulped when Mihashi slowly approached him. There was a little Déjà vu playing in Abe's head at the moment. Mihashi's eyes, Mihashi's eyes, Mihashi's eyes! That was the same exact look that Mihashi gave him in his dream before he leaned in to kiss-

Abe cleared his throat and made a detour around Mihashi to the stairs. The pitcher looked startled and turned around where Abe was about to make his way down.

"A-Abe-kun?"

"What?" Abe didn't turn around to answer; he didn't want to see anything that would trigger his dream.

"W-why umhh.. w-why…"

There was a choke and then there were sniffles. Abe turned around at those sounds and met face to face with an almost-crying-Mihashi.

"Mihashi! What?" Abe was really confused.

Mihashi suddenly pulled the catcher towards him, causing Abe to stumble forwards. His face stopped right before slamming into Mihashi's. Mihashi's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw how close his partner's face was to his.

"S-s-sorry Abe! Y-you were close to s-stairs!" Mihashi nervously tried to explain why Abe was pulled.

"Mihashi, what are you-" Abe pulled back, face creeping up with a strong blush.

There were a few moments of silence…

"A-abe-kun… y-you don't. D-don't like me?" Mihashi silently muttered with his head down. Tears started forming again around his glossy eyes.

'Oh no… what-what is happening? Did I do something wrong?' Abe was nervous.

"Hey, stop cry will you?!" Mihashi flinched at Abe's words. Abe wanted to mentally smack himself- he had to keep his voice down.

If words weren't going to calm the pitcher down, then maybe actions will have to do. Abe grabbed both of the pitcher's hands and squeezed them in his.

Mihashi's hands felt cold when he gripped back onto Abe's, they were shaking really badly too. Was he ill? Did something happen during practice?

"MIHASHI, WHAT IS-" Abe tried to lower his voice, "what is wrong?"

It felt so weird to be… nice? Was that the right word? Nice?

Mihashi was definitely struggling to spit out what he was trying to say. Why was it so hard for his pitcher to say anything at all? Just say it! Abe squeezed the other's hands harder. Finally, the pitcher lowered his head and chocked out,

"A-avoid me?"

"What?" Abe tried to keep his patience under control because Mihashi was actually answering… slowly.

"Morning… a-avoid me. W-why?" Mihashi's tears continued to make their way down to the wooden floor.

Abe was startled; was he acting weird around Mihashi this morning? Was it because of the dream that Abe was slightly out of place without him realizing it? It must be that, right? Uh, how would he explain his little, uh, dream of his?

The catcher shook his head, telling him about the dream was a big no-no. What do people do when someone else is sad? What do you do to calm down of all people like Mihashi? Abe remembers a little something he saw on TV a few days ago… it would probably work? 'It is now or never.' Abe thought.

Abe moved in a little, letting go of the pitcher's hands, and slid his arms around the other's body. He let his chin fit perfectly on the other boy's shoulder. 'Wow' Abe thought. The feeling was kind of strange because he could feel Mihashi's heart shudder against his chest, but at the same time, it felt warm and… good.

So this is what a hug feels like.


End file.
